Dagger In Crowd (Part 2)

(...)

A faint smile etched on my face. Luckily, this head hooded covers part of my real face. My identity as a fake former Hidden One has a high success rate. That doesn't mean I'm deceiving them because my main goal of targeting those unscrupulous people is to improve my stealth skills that focus on executions in the general public.

"Give me a tidbit of information, brother. About these ants, do they have routine habits that occur every day?" I asked to get more in-depth information.

"You need to wait a little bit, brother. Then, you will see a swarm of ants pulling our candy. Their appearance, which has the characteristic red bandana, is too eye-catching to be ignored," said the old trader in a happy tone.

Seeing his happy facial expression, made my mood calmer.

Ending someone's suffering seems especially satisfying if that person deserves it.

"Brothers, do you know why the ants wearing the scales of justice are unable to help you guys?"

"They have tried to do it, my brother. However, the huge difference in strength was a major obstacle for them. We even asked for help from the Shirayuki family to send one of the Battle Shrine Maidens. However, they rejected it because the Battle Shrine Maiden's main focus was protecting us from the threat of the Void."

"That's right, the Shirayuki family's actions were right. Without their protection, the Void's threat was far more terrifying than these ants. At least, I will try to get rid of these annoying ants."

"Fight on, brother!" with that small shout, I went to search for other information regarding my target.

The place I am exploring is a shopping center for middle-class people. If these annoying ants expand their nest, this shopping center will become a ghost town of abandoned merchants. The level of stupidity they have developed astounds me. Even the main character's selfish and stubborn thoughts would be secondary to these ants' stupidity.

On the way, I saw a young girl helping an old female trader. They were seen tidying up merchandise that had rotted and was unsold. The clothes she wore were the black Shrine Maiden training uniform. Her purple hair reminds me of one of the main heroines who often helps other people. If my memory is correct, that girl always went around the Royal Capital to fill her free time by helping people who were struck by misfortune.

"Thank you, beautiful girl. Thanks to your help, these unsold goods were saved to become plant fertilizer," said the old female trader.

I observed the merchandise in the form of dried foodstuffs and spices. From the small shop, I saw an object that was very useful for me to use. After the kitchen knife given by the old merchant, I saw the opportunity to try out the alchemist function of this world.

"Good morning, I overheard you talking about unsold merchandise. Can I buy it at half price and borrow your equipment to make something?" I greeted, cutting off their gazes that were focused on my voice.

"Young adult? Ah! No... Are you a new merchant who wants to open a shop around this place?" asked the old female trader in a friendly manner.

With friendliness and active charm skills, the old female merchant smiled gently at me. It made me very calm when the girl beside her looked at me with her palm on the back of her katana. Her alert attitude gave a small warning to my fine hair which stood on end feeling a sign of danger.

"That's right, madam. Before I opened a shop around this place. I heard bad news about the ant nest that stole our sweets. Is that true?" I asked to open the line of conversation.

"Hoho... madam, huh? I haven't been called that in a long time. You remind me of my carefree youth," she replied with a smile.

"What are you talking about, madam? You look very young and talkative. Even your gentle smile becomes a small fire that burns my spirit."

The old female merchant just laughed at my small compliment. Seeing our intimate chuckles, the girl standing next to her let go of her guard and looked at my clothes covered by a hood.

"Regarding the ants, the harsh reality is on our side. Without quality sugar, the ants won't come, right? Once they find a sweet sugar field, they will come steal the candy and take it to their little nest."

"So troublesome, are these sweets connected to other nests?"

"Unfortunately, they have an ant Queen working alone. No other colony will disturb the glory of this ant colony."

"Does this ant colony have a big influence?"

"Maybe, because I'm not too sure about that. Looking at the body posture of that huge black ant, I would doubt my own eyes if I said that the ant didn't have a big influence."

"Madam, I have an important question about this. Will eliminating the ants develop the economic potential of this place?" I asked with a serious facial expression.

"Young merchant, it would be best not to play with fire so early in the morning."

"Don't worry, madam. I have a promise about these ants to someone," I said while showing the white feathers in front of him.

"Huh? So that's it, I'm old but I understand your purpose. Haven't those merchant unions broken up and sold their souls to the noble families?"

"I work alone. Therefore, I need unused materials from you."

"Then, please use this material of my trade for your purposes, Hidden One."

So far, I understand how terrifying the charm effects are and the methods often used by the Hidden One. As a group of assassins born from the chaos of a kingdom, the Hidden Ones arose from a group of merchants who united their forces to fight the tyranny of the kingdom's leadership. Born from a group of traders who spread widely to other kingdoms, the Hidden Ones have the noble goal of maintaining the peace and harmony that governs the social order. All these beautiful stories ended when the Void was born into this world, the Hidden One fought behind the scenes to suppress the growth of the Void and keep humanity safe from the public eye. However, limits to human strength occur. The Hidden One was officially destroyed after the Battle Shrine Maiden appeared. The limits of human power are quickly surpassed by the Battle Shrine Maiden and trigger a change in the goals of the Hidden One who works as the dirty hands of a noble family. The extraordinary power that came from the Battle Shrine Maiden made the Hidden One aware of the weakness of their strength. The fate of humanity is now in the hands of the Battle Shrine Maiden and the Hidden One is a past glory that has become extinct.

"Stop that, madam. I'm just a former member of the Hidden One after realizing the rottenness of their goals," I said with a smile.

"I'm glad you noticed that quickly," replied the old woman merchant.

"My merchandise may look bad. However, this is the best material available in this place. You can use it as you wish. Before that, may I ask one thing?" continued the words of the old female trader.

"Hmm?" I nodded and selected the unsold merchandise.

" What is your rank within the Hidden One?" asked the old female trader in a small whisper.

"If I hadn't left the Hidden One, perhaps I would have become a Mentor of the Master rank."

Hearing my short answer, the old female trader was surprised and looked at me with a sharp gaze like the previous trader.

"Realizing their rottenness and breaking away, I have no doubts about your rank as a Master at such a young age. You must have thought about a lot of things before separating yourself, one of the wise decisions you found was realizing their rottenness."

"That's right, madam. Thanks to that, I was thin on supplies with limited finances. As a merchant who went out on a journey, I must have entered the process of failure in the world of trade, hahaha..." I laughed to lighten the mood and took out the spices that were an important ingredient for a surprise attack.

"Fight young man, your journey is still too long for wolves who separate themselves from the pack. Come inside if you want to make something," the old female trader opened the small door of her shop and invited me to enter her small shop.

The little shop had the equipment I needed to make a smoke screen. One common technique used by the Hidden One is to spread a smoke screen for tactical control or distraction. Something I will make is the development of a smoke screen that interferes with breathing with a burning sensation in the eyes. The spices I use come from pepper and chili. After entering this small shop, my eyes were greeted with simple alchemist equipment that was very useful. Looking at this nostalgic equipment, I was reminded of my little trial regarding alchemist composition. Miko Miko Blessing has a unique mechanism in alchemist techniques. With the right ratio of ingredients and quality, a simple concoction of beginner-level poison can kill an adult dragon if the composition of the preparation is focused on killing adult dragons.

My talent in mixing real science into the game and the extensive experience of trial and error in the Miko Miko Blessing game succeeded in leading me to become a Grand Master Alchemist on the trial and error path.

A creative feeling started to arise in my head, I immediately placed the pepper and chili in a small mold that was able to grind the food ingredients with magic energy. Grinding peppers and chilies that are starting to rot is an easy job. This equipment makes it easy for me to turn peppers and chilies into tiny powders that are lighter than air. The principle I use is the same as a dust explosion or flour explosion that spreads to cover the visual field of view. The combination of heat from pepper and chili has another additional burning effect on the eyeballs and lungs. A smokescreen that violates war crimes laws.

I mixed fine pepper and chili powder in the same container. Confine it in a high-pressure glass tube and compress it into a gas through a thermal expansion reaction. A complicated process takes place here, with no screen showing the reaction status. I could only rely on my hearing to understand the chemical reactions that were taking place.

*Psssshhhh... * Psssssshhhh...

That dangerous-sounding reaction made the glass container I used hard. I tapped it a little and heard an unstable gas sound. One small crack will spread a large amount of smoke screen along with a gas effect that will numb visual visibility. In short, eyesight will be disturbed and the feeling of heat in the lungs will increase like burning.

This should be a relatively safe smokescreen to use. Apart from its hot taste, it will carry out a debuff attack that disrupts visual visibility and opens up enemy defenses. A masterpiece created from rotting pepper and chilies. Without realizing it, I made three glass tubes containing red smoke screens. Seeing that the materials I bought had run out, I immediately went out to pay the rental price for the equipment and raw materials I had used.

"Madam, I have finished using your equipment," I immediately paid her with the rest of my money. However, the hand gesture of the old female trader refused my payment. It felt like she gave this to me for dealing with an anthill.

I accepted her decision and nodded my head then left.

After I walked out, I saw Shion standing in front of the shop entrance, looking cynically at the girl I met before. Their gazes suddenly turned to me and rushed over to me.

"Excuse me, do you know this girl? She looked for someone using her nose and stayed in front of the shop for quite a long time," said the girl.

"Oh, Shion? Did you manage to find me?" I said to greet Shion.

Shion then rushed towards me and sniffed my body odor to confirm my identity. Her facial expression looked sullen when she found out my vague body identity.

"Why did you leave me alone in the room? Waking up after serving you is very painful as a woman," a misunderstanding remark sounded and attracted little attention around me.

The atmosphere this morning was busier than before, several shops were selling their wares. Meanwhile, the girl who was looking at me suspiciously now stepped closer to enter the conversation.

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